Strenger’s open letter to Netanyahu

Lilly here. The following is from the “Strenger Than Fiction” column of Carlo Strenger in Ha’aretz. It is an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu following his address at a memorial service marking 15 years since Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination; in this speech, he claimed to be Rabin’s “partner” for peace:

…. Rabin took risks for peace. He knew that he would make many enemies by signing an agreement with the Palestinians and by renouncing the greater Land of Israel. He did not play games; he said what he wanted to do and he did it. In fact he took so many risks that he paid with his life.

You, Mr. Netanyahu, say one thing and do another. Nobody really knows what you want, and there are many commentators who think that even you don’t know. Of course we all know your excuse: even though Israel has the best opportunity ever to arrive at a final status agreement with the Palestinians, you say you can’t move ahead, because your coalition will fall apart. In doing so, you imply that this coalition is a fact of nature; you conveniently forget that you chose to create this coalition.

Rabin took risks. You don’t even run the risk of a coalition with Tzipi Livni and Kadima, because you are afraid that she will not support you if you are not serious in the peace process. That is not being Rabin’s partner in the vision for peace.

…. You claim that Israel is in better shape than ever: “Now we are less divided within ourselves.” “We now hear less screams, people listen to each other more, and social gaps are narrowing.”

I don’t know whether you seriously believe what you said. Israel has never been as divided by hatred between the religious and the secular, between left and right, Jews and Arabs as it is now. ….

Rabin also did a lot to narrow social gaps. But what do you mean when you say that “social gaps are narrowing”? Do you mean that Israel has reached a degree of concentration of economic power unparalleled in the Free World? Or do you mean that the income gaps between rich and poor have reached unheard of levels?

…. you failed to mention that the Salaam Fayyad has created a security force in the West Bank that both the IDF and the Palestinian population trust? ….
Read the rest online.